Fujian vs. Ford: Can China's New Aircraft Carrier Rival the U.S. Navy?

Despite technological advancements, China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, can’t match the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier fleet led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, a defense analyst told Newsweek.

“Fujian is smaller—about 80,000 tonnes versus 100,000 tonnes for the Ford class—which means it will carry fewer aircraft. Also, Ford-class ships are nuclear-powered and Fujian is not, which means Fujian will have less endurance and less space on board for aviation fuel,” said Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Australian think tank Lowy Institute’s International Security Program.

But Roggeveen said that Ford’s superiority is only half the story. The U.S. has a far better global network of maritime infrastructure that the U.S. carrier can use to its advantage.

The Fujian surpasses China’s previous carriers, the 60,000-tonne Liaoning and 66,000-tonne Shandong, and recently returned to Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard after departing for its first sea trial on May 1.

But the Ford, which is the U.S. Navy’s latest and most advanced aircraft carrier, has already gone through a five-year period of sea trials beginning in 2017. It was deployed at sea for the first time in November 2022.

The Fujian, features an electromagnetic catapult system similar to the U.S. Navy’s Ford-class carriers, leapfrogging more conventional technology. It is the second in the world, after the Ford, to possess such technology. But the Fujian, only has three launch tracks, compared to the Ford’s four.

But the increased size does allow the Fujian to support a larger air wing and it is considerably bigger than France’s 42,000-tonne Charles de Gaulle and the U.K.’s 65,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth carriers.

“CNS Fujian, China’s third aircraft carrier, finished its maiden sea trial and returned to a shipyard in Shanghai on Wednesday afternoon,” the People’s Liberation Army Navy said in a brief news release reported by Chinese state-owned newspaper China Daily on May 9.

The Fujian’s maiden voyage coincided with tensions in the South China Sea, where the Chinese Coast Guard recently fired water cannons at the Philippines Coast Guard near the Second Thomas Shoal. It also overlapped with the joint U.S.-Philippines military exercises called Balikatan.

The Fujian represents a significant stride in China’s military modernization efforts under Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the newly developed vessel is technologically advanced beyond China’s two existing aircraft carriers, emblematic of the swift modernization of the armed forces.

But Roggeveen believes that the Chinese navy doesn’t have the underlying support systems to match the U.S. Navy.

“Another weakness is that China lacks the infrastructure to operate Fujian far from home for long periods. It has only a small fleet of replenishment ships of the kind that typically accompany a carrier fleet and keep it topped up with fuel, munitions and stores,” Roggeveen added.

“And China has nothing like America’s vast global network of ports and bases where its carriers can be replenished, and crews can rest.”

Officially launched in June 2022, the Fujian has been undergoing mooring tests at Shanghai’s Jiangnan shipyard on Changxing Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, is seen conducting its first sea trial, according to a broadcast by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA Navy) on May 8, 2024. The Fujian returned to Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard after completing the first sea trial, according to Xinhua News Agency. PLA Navy

“I see Fujian and the other Chinese carriers as forming the heart of a ‘post-American’ fleet. Just as the U.S. has used its carriers since the end of the Cold War to police the global order and impose itself against weaker states—think Iraq, Libya, Syria, the Balkans—so does China intend to use its carriers in a regional constabulary role,” added Roggeveen.

“But first, it will have to persuade the U.S. to give up its own claims to Asian strategic leadership, so that the U.S. Navy doesn’t interfere in China’s ambitions.”

The Fujian’s first sea trial has started speculation about the implications for China’s immediate neighborhood.

“I don’t think China is building an aircraft carrier fleet for a Taiwan war. Taiwan is very close to China, and the job that a carrier might do in such a war could be done much more easily and cheaply by land-based aircraft and missiles,” said Roggeveen.

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the future USS Gerald Ford (CVN 78) is seen underway on its own power for the first time on April 8, 2017, in Newport News, Virginia. China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, may have matched the USS Gerald Ford in some areas, but China will face challenges in operating the vessel, an expert has argued. Getty Images News/iStock

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